Currently, various types of home networking middleware, intelligent information appliances, and residential gateways based on various wired-wireless network technologies in a home networking market, and various development environments exist due to different hardware platforms, Operating Systems (OSs) and network protocols.
Home networking middleware, such as Java Intelligent Network Infra-structure (JINI), Home Wide Web (HWW), Home Audio Video interoperability (HAVi), or Universal Plug and Play (UPnP), has purposes of communication and control between intelligent information appliances, and a Residential Gateway (RG) operates as a gateway that dynamically transfers services, which are separately provided by various service providers, to a home network.
In these environments, efforts are being made to make use of a dynamic service management function in conjunction with a control function for intelligent information appliances through home networking middleware, and a representative example, as shown in FIG. 1, is the interoperable model of Open Service Gateway initiative (OSGi)-based home networking middleware. That is, it is desired to provide a integration type model for the two functions by developing a service bundle for home networking and installing it on an OSGi framework.
OSGi aims to integrate various network standards and technologies for internal networks and external networks, like a single system, by defining a standard for dynamic service management through Application Program Interfaces (APIs) having consistent form, and providing a framework that is a java-based platform-independent service environment.
When the various network standards and technologies of OSGi-based internal and external networks are combined like a single system, a demand for a RG standard may increase. However, sufficient standardization work for the RG has not been performed.
Meanwhile, control devices, which are capable of integrally managing devices (home appliances) that use various communication protocols and are dispersed in home, are also being developed. That is, home network control devices, which are capable of supporting all communication protocols, such as International Electrical and Electronics Engineering (IEEE) 1394, Universal Serial Bus (USB), Infrared Data Association (IrDA), X-10, and Lonworks, are being developed.